


Eurydice

by BrokenBones (Hikarinimichitasora)



Series: One Shots and Writing Prompts [12]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Eurydice myth, M/M, Star Trek: Into Darkness, cheating death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 19:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1238488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikarinimichitasora/pseuds/BrokenBones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life came for him. Bones reached out warm and strong and dragged him from his song, pulling him in a direction that felt like down and up and out and in and felt like fire and ice and love and love and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eurydice

_"Oh don’t be so melodramatic, you were_ barely _dead.”_

* * *

 

Life after death is something that Jim Kirk did not think about as a general rule. It didn’t match his ideology of living for the present, and as such, was worth discarding. Who cared if someone was going to judge you in the afterlife? If you hadn’t lived life to its fullest while on Earth, it wouldn’t be much of a consolation to go to a better place when you died.

He thought sometimes about reincarnation. Perhaps his father was out there somewhere, in another person’s body, living a new life. Perhaps in another universe, an alternate or parallel time, souls were reborn and recycled, a never-ending cycle of energy.

For the most part though, death was just something that was most likely going to come before he was forty and he was damn well sure he wasn’t going to go out without a bang.

But Death came for him. Hades reached out cold, bony fingers and dragged him from his body, pulling him in a direction that felt like down and up and out and in and felt like fire and ice and peace and despair.

For once, there was no winning scenario, no way to fight, and Jim greeted Death with helplessness and a heart that ached for what might have been.

The Afterlife was cold and empty even though it was filled with people. Billions of life forms from across the Universe, across time, all crammed into a vastness that seemed endless and at once all too small. None of them had a physical form, yet Jim could see what they all had been, what he now was, radiation burns peeling away his skin and cold, sightless eyes reflected in the cold, sightless eyes of others.

The others lamented endlessly, their wails an eerie elegy that had no end. At first Jim did not join the song, he did not know the tune. He sat with other silent ones, numb with loss of life and lack of understanding. As time passed though, like an earworm turned into a maggot on his soul, he found himself opening his mouth to join in, crying out his desire to escape, to return, to those that could no longer hear.

There were some who did not sing. Shapeless, silent, shifting forms that slithered through the crowds. When Jim touched them he felt something worse than Death. These were the spirits that had been here since the beginning of time, the ones who had died so long ago that they had lost all memory of themselves, of life, of anything other than the endless, mindless grief and sorrow. They could not mourn that which they did not remember.

Every day, one more singer would become one more silent ghoul and one more voice would join the chorus.

It felt like eternity and Jim held tight to the memories of his friends. Of Spock’s brilliant intelligence, of Uhura’s cutting wit, of Scotty’s joyous laugh, of Chekov’s optimistic smile, of Sulu’s casual badassery, of Bone’s unconditional loyalty.

Then it happened.

Life came for him. Bones reached out warm and strong and dragged him from his song, pulling him in a direction that felt like down and up and out and in and felt like fire and ice and love and love and love.

Bones did not look at him, a mere shade, a ghost to Jim’s perception, but Jim could feel him as sure as he could hear the desolate cries of those around him. He could feel the softness of his uniform shirt beneath the tips of his fingers as he held onto Bones as the other walked away.

He watched Bones’ back, willing him to turn, willing him to look at him, to see him, to acknowledge him. But Bones did not.

At times Bones faltered, he stumbled, he paused and looked around, as though he had lost his way and Jim tried to encourage him, tried to tell him to look at him and see him and show him that it was alright, everything would be fine. But Bones did not look.

At times Jim faltered, he let go of Bones’ back, drifted away from the path he was cutting through the souls and still Bones did not look at him. He would stop though, waiting, patient and loyal and filled with love until Jim hesitantly moved forward once more, until Jim believed once again that it was alright, everything would be fine. Even if Bones did not look.

Each day Jim felt stronger and stronger. The song no longer echoed in his being, the coldness felt warmer somehow, the scared spirits of the dead less threatening.

Death stood upon the threshhold and watched as Bones stepped through it and Jim hesitated for a moment, staring into the face of the Grim Reaper and wondering if it was right.

Bones did not look.

Jim stepped through.

* * *

 

_"You saved my life."_

_"Uhura and I had something to do with it too, you know."_


End file.
